At Castle Point in Essex, where Ukip candidate Jamie Huntman is currently standing, Farage said the current system made us “victims of our own economy”, and that we are living under a “lethal combination of big government, big banks and big business”.

“We are now living in a corporate economy,” he said. “We are living in an economy where capitalism, free markets, enterprise and ambition have been replaced and are often crushed by a modern form of corporatism, which is supported by all three political parties and the trade union movement.”

On the subject of immigration, he called for the introduction of a policy based on the Australian-style points system, to allow Britain to "decide who comes to live and work in our country".

“We really understand the cost of living crisis: we know what open-door immigration has done to the wages of every person in Britain. We want to end that by having a responsible immigration policy.”

Redefining capitalism

According to Farage, if Ukip won the general election in May, it would go about "redefining capitalism".

“We are the only party that genuinely believes we have got to redefine capitalism,” he said, claiming that it is the only way to generate sufficient taxes to build a healthy welfare state.